ESPN announces lay-offs to more than 20 on-air personalities in money saving cull

Basketball fans have been left scratching their heads after ESPN announced major lay-offs which included several big name personalities.

ESPN mercilessly swung the axe

ESPN is laying off some of its biggest stars, including Jeff Van Gundy, Max Kellerman, Keyshawn Johnson, Suzy Kolber, and Jalen Rose, in a purge that is expected to result in around 20 on-air personalities being let go Friday as the network hopes to save tens of millions of dollars.

ESPN informed all of its employees Friday morning of the forthcoming cuts on an internal website, according to a memo obtained by The NY Post.

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The five-paragraph note did not go into many specifics.

At the beginning of Disney’s three rounds of lay-offs, sources told The Post that at ESPN, there would be “no sacred cows” when letting go of personnel.

This became apparent on Friday.

Van Gundy, Kellerman, Johnson, Kolber and Rose were also joined by “NFL Countdown” analyst Matt Hasselbeck, NFL draft expert Todd McShay, college basketball analyst LaPhonso Ellis, “SportsCenter” anchor Ashley Brewer, radio host Jason Fitz and baseball writer Joon Lee.

Van Gundy is considered one of the best NBA TV game analysts ever, while Johnson signed a big contract just a year ago.

Kellerman makes in the neighborhood of $5 million a year, while Johnson, is in the second year of a five-year, around $18 million deal.

ESPN mercilessly swung the axe

Van Gundy, 61, has been with ESPN for 16 years, calling the Finals with play-by-player Mike Breen and co-game analyst, Mark Jackson.

His exact salary is not known, but he was making millions. He ends his ABC/ESPN career just shy of a hundred NBA Finals games.

“Head scratcher,” Fox Sports 1 sports show host Colin Cowherd tweeted after the news. “Love JVG.”

Van Gundy was widely renowned for his basketball intuition and unique insight on the game.

“The best NBA game analyst by a mile,” The Ringer’s Ryen Russillo tweeted.

JVG was one of the best.

Jalen was cut right before an on-air appearance.

During Friday’s instalment of “Get Up,” Brian Custer, who was filling in for host Mike Greenberg, teased an appearance from Rose on two separate occasions halfway through the two-hour program.

Just over the halfway point in the show, Custer said Rose would join the conversation to discuss Sixers guard James Harden opting in to his $35.6 million option for the 2023-24 season, after the commercial break — but when the showed returned, it went on without Rose.

After Custer cited a report by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that Harden and the Sixers are working to get a deal done, there was an awkward pause while Harden highlights aired.

“Alright, lets bring in now one of our NBA analysts Jalen Rose,” Custer said before he paused again.

“He’s going to join us as well, but guys let’s talk about this Joel Embiid situation.”

Rose, who hosts “The Renaissance Man” podcast for The Post, never appeared on the show.

NBA Twitter took notice.

“What’s crazy [about] the firing of Jalen Rose is while watching [‘Get Up’] this morning he was [supposed] to be on the show, guess they clipped him after,” one user tweeted.

“That’s wild because this morning on Get Up they said they were having audio issues with Jalen Rose,” another wrote.

Originally published as ESPN announces lay-offs to more than 20 on-air personalities in money saving cull